3.) The First Test (Chapter 18) - available here from RACER.com. The first track test of the engine takes place in a snowy winter wonderland. (Note: RACER.com is upgrading their site. It seems a little sluggish right now, Wed., May 14)

4.) Test. Then Test Again (Chapter 20) - available here from the Autosport Forum. Testing continues with a new driver.

5.) Heeee's On It (Chapter 33) - available here on this blog. It's the dramatic (and rainy) opening day of qualifying for the 1994 Indy 500.

NOTE: Many of the excerpts have been edited for brevity - and to remove a number of spoilers. You'll have to read the book for the really good, juicy details.

May 13, 2014

This isn't directly BEAST-related, but it will certainly make the hair on the back of your neck stand up if you're a fan of the Indianapolis 500. Growing up, I listened to hours upon hours of broadcasts from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, and hearing the great Sid Collins, long-time 'Voice of the 500,' is always a good thing.

This is courtesy of WIBC.com and their fabulous Indy 500 History page. It's worth a click.

May 12, 2014

If you've picked up your copy of BEAST, you're already aware of Patrick Morgan's superb CAD illustrations. However, those are merely static representations. Patrick also provided animation of the valve train movement from the pushrod engine. It's incredibly difficult to make a pushrod valve system that is very low friction at high RPM while also remaining intact somehow for 500 miles! It was also a source of many early failures and a constant source of worry all the way to the finish line. (If you've read the book, you know the dramas of the needle rollers - which are seen in the animation...)

Here is a slo-mo look at the unique valvetrain of the Mercedes-Benz 500I.

As always, I recommed you check out the fine work of Patrick Morgan's company, Dawn Treader Performance. Click the link to see just some of the amazing and historical race cars his company owns, maintains or have restored. Some amazing machinery.

If you have not yet grabbed a copy of BEAST for your very own, order it direct from Octane Press, or fine locales such as Amazon.com. (As of today, May 12, Amazon has sold out - but more books are quickly on the way.)

May 02, 2014

Happy to report that my new book, BEAST, now exists in the dead-trees version. If you pre-ordered from Octane Press, your order has likely shipped. Other outlets, such as Amazon, should follow soon as well. If you're interested in an eBook format, those should be available soon for Kindle, Nook, iBooks and more.

The book looks great, and includes many color photos and CAD illustrations by Patrick Morgan.

I'm happy with the finished product, and hope you'll enjoy it as well!

March 28, 2014

BEAST is my new book - from Octane Press - that details the never-before-told tales of the last great technical accomplishment at the Indy 500. It also happened to be the greatest secret in the more than 100 years of 500 history, when Ilmor Engineering and Penske Racing designed, manufactured, tested and then raced a Mercedes-Benz pushrod engine in a nearly impossible timeframe. Here is an excerpt from the book to coincide with this weekend’s opening event of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series.

After months of painstaking design and countless failures while developing and testing the engine, Saturday, May 14, 1994 was the day it finally had a chance to “officially” shine on the first day of qualifying. Fearing a last-minute rules change from the Speedway and USAC (the sanctioning body and rules makers), Roger Penske had restricted the amount of practice laps that Al Unser Jr. could turn each day, hoping not to show the full strength of the engine. Here, we join the action on the first of four days of qualifying.

Heeee’s on It! / from the book, BEAST

“A car is very much like a woman. Cornering is like bringing a woman to orgasm. The two of you, both you and the car, must work together. You start to enter that area of excitement of the corner, you set up a pace that is right for the car, and after you’ve told it that it’s coming along with you, you guide it through at a rhythm which has by now become natural. Only after clearing that corner can both take pleasure in knowing it has gone well.” — Sir Jackie Stewart, Formula 1 World Champion (1969, 1971, and 1973)

Saturday, May 14

Pole-qualifying day has always been an interesting phenomenon at Indy. For many decades, raceday at the Speedway has understandably drawn the largest attendance for a single-day sporting event in the world, but pole-qualifying, at its peak, drew the second biggest sporting crowd on the globe. People would watch cars zoom past one by one, four laps at a time, to determine who was fastest. At such speeds, it’s nearly impossible for the naked eye to distinguish between the fastest and slowest cars, but it was an opportunity to watch drivers cheat death.

But was that the entire allure? No. Someone had to tell them what they had just seen.

The atmosphere and tension were expertly managed by the finest public-address announcer in racing. Tom Carnegie was the voice of the Speedway for six decades. His deep and sonorous tones had a “voice of God” effect as they echoed around the massive grounds. Like a gifted film director, his sense of drama and delivery heightened the excitement of even mundane moments. Unlike many announcers who believe they are paid by the word (thus relegating their inane chatter to background noise), Carnegie could paint the picture with economy and flair.

The Speedway in 1994 did not have large video screens or constant social media updates for smartphones. Even in the best seats, spectators could not see the entire track. It was Carnegie’s voice (and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network) that helped fans visualize what was happening around the track. He was the ringmaster of the biggest and fastest circus anywhere.

As a driver began a qualifying attempt, Carnegie’s announcement “And heeee’s on it!” alerted the world. He would pause dramatically before announcing the time and speed for a lap, teasing the crowd by saying “Annnnd . . . it’s quicker!” or whip them into a frenzy by saying “Still faster!” But the most raucous crowd response on qualifying days was reserved for Carnegie’s slow, deliberate call of “It’s . . . a . . . new . . . track . . . recorrrrd!”

Before Carnegie’s show could begin, the teams had a practice session early Saturday morning, a final chance to fine-tune their machines. The cool, overcast weather allowed twenty-six drivers to record their fastest laps of the month. Penske’s Emerson Fittipaldi was best overall at 229.043 mph. He had consistently been the quickest throughout the first week of practice and was the favorite to win the pole position.

Missing was his Penske teammate, Paul Tracy, who wasn’t released from Methodist Hospital until later in the morning after a heavy crash the day before. The Speedway’s Dr. Henry Bock did not give him medical clearance to get into a car, and Rick Mears was assigned to spend the day with the young driver, attempting to help him recover mentally and physically from his shunt. It meant Tracy would miss his spot in Saturday’s qualifying line, making him a second-day qualifier at best.

Team Penske was down to two bullets for pole day, and narrowly avoided being down to only one.

While pushing to equal his teammate’s speed, Al Unser Jr.’s practice session nearly ended in disaster as a sudden rain shower began to fall. The instantly wet surface nearly meant a second crashed Penske chassis in two days.

“I was going for 229, and I almost crashed, which scared the you-know-what out of me,” Unser explained. Before the scare, he had turned his fastest lap of the month at 227.618 miles per hour.

The rain stopped practice at 9:34 a.m., and after several hours of track-drying, qualifying began at 12:15 p.m.

Why is qualifying so important at the Speedway? First, making the thirty-three-car field meant earning a share of the significant prize money. For a small team, these were critical funds—even the last-place finisher in the 1994 Indianapolis 500 received a check for more than $100,000. For a team like Penske, taking the pole position meant a place in history, a $100,000 bonus from the Speedway, a great starting spot, and the opportunity for the best raceday pit box (chosen in order of qualifying results).

For team owners there was another critical consideration. While the race winner receives an avalanche of media coverage for several days (the week following the race, the media tended to move on), winning the pole position meant two full weeks of worldwide attention. For major companies like Mercedes-Benz and Marlboro, the value of being featured in almost every element of pre-race hype and worldwide media coverage for a fortnight was almost immeasurable. While the glory of the pole position, or even a front-row start, was a satisfying feat for very competitive people, the sponsorship value meant even more riches for the team and their sponsors.

Unser’s car was twenty-first in the qualifying draw, but because a number of the cars were backup machines, he would go out twelfth. The thirty-two-year-old arrived early to the pit box in his Marlboro uniform, engulfed in the mass of people along pit lane. Known as a great racer but not a good qualifier, he had never started on the front row for a five-hundred-mile race—at Indy or anywhere.

Al Unser Sr., also in his driver’s uniform, stopped to share a quick word and a laugh with his son and Penske, his former team owner. Ever the businessman, Penske worked the crowd, shaking hands and saying hello to a number of people, including Mario Andretti. Surrounded by a swirling crush of photographers and video cameras, a smiling Penske appeared very relaxed. Al Jr.’s wife Shelly, in a bright red Marlboro jacket, grabbed her husband and pointed toward the crowd as Junior gave a big smile and wave to his fans.

As the tension inched upward, the crew quietly pushed the No. 31 car onto a metal ramp as track officials took final measurements, making certain the car was legal. Joining the team beside the car was an Ilmor contingent in gray sweaters and black Ilmor hats, including Paul Morgan and Paul Ray. The time had come for their engine.

Young kids shouted “Al!” or “Little Al!” as Unser began the ritualistic process of preparing to drive the hardest four laps of the year. He carefully put in his foam earpieces, a clenched jaw the only visible sign of the stress. He slipped a fire-resistant balaclava over his head to protect his face and neck in case of a fiery accident. Amid the tumult, Unser closed out the rest of the world when he slowly pulled on his helmet, painted to match his race car. As he tightened the helmet straps, his 1992 Indy 500 winner’s ring gleamed on his right hand.

The Mercedes engine was warmed to its optimal temperatures while Unser put on his gloves and slid into the cockpit as if in slow motion. A crewmember made certain his seat belts were securely attached and pulled tight, meeting in a single latch near his belly button.

This is the driver’s office, where he’s usually most at ease. It’s also where he is most alone, inside a cocoon. This is the Brickyard, where qualifying means not just one perfect lap, but four. Ten miles to hold your breath. Sixteen turns to perfect. Four laps to prove your guts and your car control and your bravery while holding the throttle as long as your brain allows. A driver is most alive while speeding within inches of unforgiving walls, inches from calamity and death. It is ten miles to history.

After months of immense toil and effort by so many on both sides of the Atlantic, the stopwatch now truly meant something. The rest had all been rehearsal. It was time to show what The Beast could do.

The car was pushed away, and the low, throaty growl of the Mercedes came to life as Unser pulled onto the track. Coming around to begin his warmup lap, Unser was confronted for the first time this month by nearly full grandstands on both sides of the front straightaway. After a week of practicing before empty grandstands, the large crowd enveloping the driver’s vision was a jarring change, making the front straight seem much narrower, as if driving down a hallway and then diving through a small doorway into Turn 1.

The dark clouds were building again, which meant cool and ideal conditions for speed. Due to the near disaster in the morning session, Unser’s warmup lap began conservatively. The surface was fully dry, and the track seemed pristine. But again Unser hit something—observers said it was a tiny bird—that contacted his front right tire. Suddenly, his mind shifted from ultimate speed to worries about the tire. Would it hold air as he drove into the turn? He gingerly turned into the corner—and the tire held.

“I didn’t have the car handling as well as I wanted it,” Unser later explained. “The first lap was too cautious, too careful.”

“Here’s the first time and speed report,” Carnegie said after Unser crossed the line to begin lap two. “It’s almost 226 miles an hour. . . 225.722 miles an hour the first time around for former champion Al Unser Jr.”

Al Unser Jr.Here is the track P.A. call for Unser's first two laps. Note the crowd chatter about the low rumble of the engine, as they thought it was having trouble compared to the high-pitched whine of the other engines. (Courtesy of Henri Greuter)

(Photos: Dan Boyd)

Inside the car, Unser’s dashboard flashed the same numbers, which were far from satisfactory.

“I need to really get after it,” he told himself.

He was trying to beat Raul Boesel, the quickest qualifier so far with a four-lap average speed of 227.618. It would become harder and harder for Unser to increase his speed as his Goodyear tires lost slightly more grip in each corner.

“Let’s see what that new chassis and new engine does for him on lap two,” Carnegie said as Unser came to the line again. “Oh wow! Over two hundred twenty eight miles an hour! Innnncrrrredible!”

The crowd roared. “Little Al! . . . 228.351 miles per hour,” Carnegie reported. “Another lap like that could put him on the pole.”

It was Unser’s fastest lap of the month, and he still had two to go. His team owner had restrained him throughout practice, but now those restrictions were lifted. It was time to show what he could do. Before he entered each corner, he was closer to the wall than before, carving a beautiful arc through the turns to launch him down the straights with the Mercedes at full throttle. He got more aggressive each lap as if being slung around the corners like a rock on the end of a string. The crowd cheered him as he went past, willing their American hero to even faster speeds.

“It’s faster! It’s faster!” Carnegie exclaimed after the third lap. “228.525! Right now his average is good enough to put him on the pole. Let’s see if he stays there.”

It was down to a final lap to see if Unser’s nerve, precision, and right foot could propel him to the top of the scoring pylon. A number of team members crowded around Penske, Mears, and Al Sr. on pit lane, most of them looking at their own stopwatches. Before Carnegie could announce the final lap’s speed, Clive Howell, a Penske man for fifteen years, had an amazed look on his face as if he couldn’t believe what his stopwatch was telling him. Shelly Unser gave Penske a big hug as the car rushed past.

“Oh! It’s phenomenal! Incredible,” yelled Carnegie as the crowd erupted louder than they had all day.

“Two. Twenty. Nine! Two twenty-nine!” he exclaimed, the rumble from the grandstands climbing with each exhortation. “229.481 for Al Unser Jr. And he is now on the pole! His total elapsed time is 2:37.887, and his four-lap average speed is 228.011 miles per hour. Team Marlboro Penske’s Al Unser Jr. is your new pole-sitter with Mercedes power.”

Unser’s crew chief, Richard Buck, and mechanic Brian Barnhart high-fived at the peak of giant leaps into the air. Smiling broadly, Kevin Walter and Paul Morgan exhaled and shared a hearty handshake. As Unser slowly returned to the pits, everyone who was in Penske, Ilmor, Mercedes, or Marlboro garb rushed to applaud when he rolled past.

Climbing out of the car, an animated Unser put on a black Penske-Mercedes hat before huddling with a joyous Penske and team to discuss his adventure. Men offered backslaps and handshakes; there were hugs and kisses from the ladies. As Unser and the car were maneuvered into place for the traditional qualifying photographs, the scrum of cameras and reporters jockeyed to get a reaction from the Captain.

The dream of sweeping the entire front row like 1988 was gone, but in nineteen of the previous twenty-five years, at least one Penske-owned car had qualified on the front row. Now one of his cars was on the provisional pole, but there were still a number of cars to come, including Fittipaldi, who could knock Unser from his perch.

After several additional cars completed qualifying runs, the rain returned, bringing everything to a halt slightly before 2 p.m. While the track was quiet, Unser and Penske went to the news conference room, where they spoke of the laps.

“It was like looking down a double-barreled shotgun,” Unser said, explaining the pressure he felt during the run. “But, each lap got quicker. It was just great.”

Was there any radio communication during the run?

“No, there weren’t any radio communications,” he said. “If there had been, I knew what Roger would have said, but I got Roger’s vibes and I ran as fast as I could go. We were building the speed up and the car felt great and the Mercedes ran good.”

After Unser mentioned the Mercedes, the questions focused on the engine. As usual, Penske played his cards close to the vest.

“We had to just get in the race car and run,” he said, again declining to reveal horsepower details. “We weren’t trying to get the horsepower, we were trying to get reliability. We wouldn’t do something like this just to win the pole. I want Paul or Emerson or Al sitting here after we’ve won the race. You can’t win it unless you finish, so that’s been our goal all along. As you see the [race] unfold, then I think you’ll see what we really have.”

Even Nigel Mansell expressed a glimmer of admiration for Unser. “That first lap was pretty much sandbagging,” Nigel said. “But that last lap was pretty impressive.”

After six hours and thirteen minutes of delays (and more than two inches of rain) for the day, the track reopened at 4:57, but the session ended at 6 p.m. with only twenty-one cars making an official qualifying run. Unser was still on top, but because of the long delays, there were twelve drivers still eligible to make an attempt at the pole, including several who had been consistently quick throughout the month, notably Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti.

Among the surprises was the third-best time by the impressive rookie Jacques Villeneuve and a very strong qualifying run for Lyn St. James, who was making her third straight 500 and would start ahead of Mansell.

Fittipaldi was visibly disappointed at being washed out. He had been consistently quickest all week, and was thrilled with the handling of his car in the morning session. He would have to wait for his opportunity.

Asked about the ninety percent chance of rain predicted for the following day, Unser seemed resigned that his hold on the pole was similarly tentative, stating, “I’m at least ninety percent sure Emerson’s going to get it. He’s been running 228 and 229 consistently.”

March 09, 2014

I wrote the book IN THE REDin 2011 in the midst of what had been a rough on-track stretch for Dale Earnhardt Jr. When things weren't going so well, it was easy to forget the attitude that was so prominent in his early years in the Cup Series. While IN THE RED was the story of the tragic 2001 season, I was taken aback by the attitude Dale Jr. and the rest of the No. 8 Budweiser team showed in those early years.

While digging through stacks and stacks of my notepads and vast media coverage from 2001, I continually marvelled at the strength and willpower from Junior to overcome his father's death, despite being constantly inundated by constant reminders of his loss. With his uncle Tony Eury Sr. and cousin Tony Jr., the three had a swagger that was infectious. At the Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway races in the Bud era, Junior was supremely self-assured and aggressive. He always believed the safest way to avoid the giant crashes was to be in the lead or as close as possible. The result was a number of dominating performances.

That confidence and swagger was missing in recent years. He seemed to race with a strange kind of timidity. It was as if he was barely having fun.

Yet, his Daytona 500 performance last month - grabbing the race by the scruff of the neck - showed the return of an attitude that is incredibly encouraging for Junior fans across the land. He once told Rolling Stone magazine that he felt like Superman in the car, able to lift 300 pounds. Superman is back.

Yet, I was struck moreso by the emergence of Junior's personality. His unbridled joy with the victory, his very apparent affection and appreciation of his team. This was something even those of us on the inside rarely saw in the early days. Junior's inherent shyness meant those kind of emotional moments were rare.

I was also shocked when he was clearly excited about a week of media appearances as the Daytona 500 winner. While I was coordinating media appearances for him during the Bud years, he was reticent to do media appearances that took him out of his comfort zone. It took several years of polite cajoling to get him to agree to make an appearance on the Tonight Show. Despite the fact he was very good in that format, he was always extremely anxious beforehand.

On his first Late Show with David Letterman appearance - after his 500 win in 2004 - he neither saw nor met Dave, and was asked to do donuts in the street in a trick Corvette owned by one of the staff. He managed to do well on air, but was nervous as hell about possibly bending a wheel on the curb or worse yet crashing someone's prized Corvette. He was even hesitant to purposely beat up a tiny, generic rental car by squeezing it into a too-small parking spot. (We also didn't meet Lindsey Lohan, who was in the next dressing room that night. We did, however, hear a lot of crying, screaming and arguing eminating from her room.) This year, we saw a much more relaxed (and a much better dressed) man alongside Dave.

After several days of media appearances in '04, he was exhausted as we were being driven to the airport to take NASCAR's jet back to reality. On the drive, his cell phone rang with a call from Matt Kenseth to congratulate him on his win.

"Dude, if you ever have a chance to win the 500," Junior told his good friend, "just finish second because they'll wear your ass out doing all of this media."

I could never tell how much was a joke and how much was his real feelings in that comment.

Now, with a huge assist from his crew chief, Steve Letarte, his girlfriend Amy and team owner Rick Hendrick, his personality and confidence are bursting on and off the track. While I'm thrilled with his racing sucess so far in 2014, I'm much more happy to see him as a more content man that's much more comfortable in his skin.

February 18, 2014

Here is Indy car and Formula 1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi at speed in the gorgeous Penske PC23 chassis powered by the Mercedes-Benz 500I engine at the Indianaolis Motor Speedway in May 1994. It was Fittipaldi who gave the engine its nickname: The Beast.(Photo by Dan Boyd)

In case you missed the unveiling of my latest book, you can read it by scrolling to the post below, or click here.

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BEAST is the story of the last great innovation at the Indianapolis 500. Although it received immense worldwide coverage at the time, the real behind-the-scenes stories have never been told. I have wanted to share this amazing tale for more than 15 years, and to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Indianapolis 500, I knew the time was right to tell the definitive story.

While BEAST may appear to be about an engine, it's really about the handful of people from Ilmor Engineering and Team Penske who made it happen, the hurdles they overcame and the incredible (and often hilarious) lengths they went to try to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. There are technical elements in the book, mostly describing how the engine itself was different than the "normal" Indy engines and how they overcame a number of hurdles with immense problem solving abilities, but the focus is on the drama and uncertainty that drove them all the way to the final laps of the race.

It's about the perfect intersection of elements: rule changes and political wrangling in the sport of Indy car racing, a motivated team owner with the desire and finances to make it happen, the engineering firm with people capable of designing and building the engine in record time, and the race team itself with three world-class drivers. Had any of those pieces not been in place, this would have never happened.

Why me?

How was I lucky enough to be the one to tell the story? I was an Ilmor Engineering employee in the late 1990s, when Ilmor was the racing engine design and manufacturing arm of Mercedes-Benz. While I was at the '94 500 purely as a fan, it was several years later that I became a part of the Ilmor team. The stories I heard while at team dinners or after a few (or more) beers from those who played a key role with the engine fascinated me and fueled my imagination. As a marketing/communications guy who is not an engineer, designer or mechanic, the stories of this behemoth seemed almost too good to be true. But, the more I learned, the more I understood how it came together.

I don't want to pretend I'm the only one who could have written the book, but I did have a unique background that put me in the right position. Because I was a former employee with a decent track record as an author, the book got an early "thumbs-up" from Ilmor co-founder Mario Illien and Roger Penske. From there, I had access to former and current employees of both companies and many others in the sport at that time. I traveled across the US and also spent time in England researching and doing dozens of interviews with the key players. Even the greatest minds and memories can get a little fuzzy over the course of two decades, but I was able to match many anecdotes and details with documents which had remained packed away since that time. What emerged from those interviews was a story even more grand than I had imagined.

The main goal was to tell the story accurately and to do justice to the effort put in by everyone who participated in creating and racing The Beast. Because of the extreme secrecy of the engine project, I was shocked to learn that many key players still have no idea what their co-workers in other departments were doing - even those working beside them. Now, they can learn with the rest of us!

One major element of the book is missing. Paul Morgan, co-founder of Ilmor, was killed in a plane crash in May 2001. He was the heart and soul of the project and I had long feared the story had died with him. But, with so many people eager to share their many Paul Morgan stories, his memory is a thread that carries through the entire book.

If I've done my job properly, readers will enjoy a great mystery/suspense novel and will understand how unique and special the engine project really was.

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You can pre-order BEAST directly from Octane Press before its April release. Click here for more information. The book will be available in hardcover and all eBook formats.

February 14, 2014

It will hit the streets in mid-May, and is being published by Octane Press of Austin, Texas, the company which also published my previous book, "In The Red." It will be available in hardcover and all eBook formats. (The hardcover release will follow several weeks later in the U.K.) You can pre-order the book directly from Octane Press at: https://www.octanepress.com/book/beast

This is the largest and most complex project I've ever taken on, and I'm very proud of the finished results. It is the best work I've done in my eclectic career, and I hope you will enjoy it half as much as I have.

BEAST is the never-before-told story of the greatest secret in Indy 500 history. It tells of the epic effort to design and build a new engine from a clean sheet of paper for one race - the 1994 Indianapolis 500 - in a nearly impossible timeframe and in total secrecy. It was designed and built by Ilmor Engineering Ltd. in the U.K., and then tested and raced by Marlboro Team Penske, Roger Penske's ultra-successful Indy car team.

The 1,000 horsepower engine was unveiled several weeks before practice began at the Speedway in 1994, and has been called "the atomic bomb" of auto racing. This was truly the last, great innovation at the 500, and could never happen again in this era of spec cars and spec engines.

While many others have written and speculated about the engine, this is the first time a true insider (ahem... me) is able to tell the stories no one else has revealed, as 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the race. Because the engine was one-and-done before it was legislated out of existence, many legends, myths and tall-tales grew up around it, but the truths revealed in the book are even more grand than the myths. While I thought I knew the stories when this project began, it seemed I was shocked or surprised with each interview or batch of documents.

Roger Penske is always looking for what he calls the "Unfair Advantage," and this engine provided him with such. It came about after engine rules at the 500 were relaxed in an attempt to help American manufacturers and independent engine builders ("the little guys") have some hope of competing with the dominant engines from Ford-Cosworth and Ilmor (previously badged as Chevrolet engines). Penske and Ilmor cofounders Mario Illien and Paul Morgan decided that a specially built powerplant could be designed and built (at great effort and expense) to the exact specifications of the relaxed rules. But, they only had precious months to do so.

While die hard fans will know details of the engine - known to the world as the Mercedes-Benz 500I - and the results from its one and only race, the book is presented as a mystery/suspense novel that doesn't reveal the results until the final chapters. I hope to bring the reader along day-by-day as the pressure, tension and gut-wrenching drama increases all the way to the final laps of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

This is much more than a racing book: it tells the stories of those who worked around the clock on two continents to create the powerful work of art. Their massive brain power, subterfuge and sleight of hand belongs in a spy novel rather than a sports book. Their decisions and methods could fill a business or leadership book.

The story winds through amazing moments including World War II fighter planes, software hacking, frozen winter testing, a secret garage named "the Taj Mahal," the death of a great Formula 1 world champion and even supersonic jets. This all was taking place amidst the political turmoil that was roiling as Tony George, president of the Speedway, announced his intention to start his own Indy car series. And all of that takes place before they even reached the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the real speed and drama take hold.

Only three drivers were ever able to feel the full power of the engine, and it was named "The Beast" by the legendary Emerson Fittipaldi after his first test session. Fittipaldi was joined on the Team Penske roster by Paul Tracy and Al Unser Jr. The latter duo did most of the track testing under extremely brutal conditions leading up to the race.

May 06, 2013

I'm proud to report my latest book, IN THE RED, has received a bronze medal from the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards. Thanks goes to Lee Klancher and Octane Press - the fine publisher based in Austin, Texas.

The book is available in hardcover and all eBook formats wherever books are sold. You can order direct from Octane at the link above. They also offer autographed versions.

Thanks to all who have been so supportive of the project and everyone who has purchased a copy of the book.